Cancer-stricken boy, 5, struck by worsening consuming dysfunction after his Bolivian father was thrown into ICE detention
A five-year-old Philadelphia boy with brain cancer and an eating disorder risks dying after his Bolivian father was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), his family claimed.
Johny Merida, 48, was detained by immigration officers in September after having lived in the US without official permission for about 20 years.
His son Jair has brain cancer, autism and a grave eating disorder – which he survives by getting fed PediaSure nutrition drink.
The boy only accepted the food from his father, who would leave his job every day to take care of him.
With Merida in ICE detention for nearly five months, that has been impossible.
That will change soon, as Merida has accepted deportation – even though it could put his son’s life at risk.
‘Even if we wanted to go back to Bolivia, there’s no hospital,’ Merida told the Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘The treatment is not adequate.’
Hospitals in Bolivia ‘cannot handle serious conditions’, according to the US State Department.
Jair Merida, five, has brain cancer, autism and an eating disorder that makes him reliant on his dad to get fed
Johny Merida, 48, was detained by ICE in September. He has accepted deportation to Bolivia instead of trying to remain in the US
Merida has decided to accept deportation to Bolivia, rather than attempt to stay in the US.
Jair, his siblings and mother will also leave the country, even though they do not need to and it could put the boy’s life at risk.
They plan on reuniting with Merida in Cochabamba, Bolivia, although the exact date of his deportation remains unclear.
Jair’s mom, Gimena Morales Antezana, said she could no longer afford basic necessities like rent, water, and heat to take care of her three children.
‘We have been trying to survive, but it is difficult with the children because they miss their dad so much,’ she told the Inquirer.
Merida is the family breadwinner but he cannot provide for his loved ones while detained.
Morales Antezana, 49, stopped working to take care of Jair’s health since it requires around-the-clock treatment.
The boy finished chemotherapy in August 2022 but the brain tumor grew back, prompting him to begin oral chemotherapy less than two years later.
His eating condition is called avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder and he relies on PediaSure for nutrition.
Merida was the family breadwinner and his wife Gimena Morales Antezana (center) has struggled to afford the rent, water and heat following his detention
Merida is being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in rural Pennsylvania, which his lawyer called a ‘tough environment’ that he ‘couldn’t do’ any longer
Medical professionals also attested to Merida’s importance for his sick son and desperate family.
‘Jair’s father’s daily support in feeding his son is integral to his overall health,’ wrote Cynthia Schmus, a neuro-oncology nurse practitioner at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
She added that Jair was ‘at risk of significant medical decline’ if he was not fed.
Mariam Mahmud, with Peace Pediatrics Integrative Medicine in Doylestown, said Jair would be unable to ‘obtain effective medical care in Bolivia.’
She claimed Jair had consumed less than 30 percent of his necessary daily calories since his dad’s ICE detention.
The boy was at constant risk of being hospitalized, as a result.
Jair cries whenever his father calls on the phone and asks why he can’t be home, according to his mother.
Merida was arrested by ICE during a traffic stop on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia while driving home from a Home Depot store.
‘He couldn’t do it anymore,’ John Vandenberg, an immigration attorney representing the family, told the Inquirer. ‘He reached his limit.’
Merida’s lawyer added that it was a ‘tough environment in the jail.’
He is being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, an ICE facility in rural Pennsylvania.
Jair depends on PediaSure nutrition drink to be fed, but he only accepted food from his father. Doctors said Merida’s daily support was ‘integral’ to his son’s health
Merida was previously deported from the US in 2008 when he attempted to enter the country from the Mexican border east of San Diego.
He was using a Mexican ID with the fake name Juan Luna Gutierrez and was stopped by Customs and Border Protection before being sent back to Mexico.
Merida secretly crossed into the US almost immediately after that. He was never charged with a felony after doing so, according to the Inquirer.
Vandenberg, his attorney, claimed Merida had no criminal record in the US and that documents from Bolivian authorities proved he had not committed any offenses there either.
In September, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an order temporarily blocking Merida’s deportation.
A T-visa application for his wife was also sent, which is used to provide a path to citizenship for human trafficking victims and their families.
However, there have been no updates in the application for months.
All three of Merida’s children, including Jair, were born in the US and are American citizens.
He and his wife were authorized to work legally in the United States under a 2024 asylum claim.
Jair and his family plan to reunite with their father in Cochabamba, Bolivia (pictured) after he accepted deportation from the US
Doctors told the family this month that Jair’s brain tumor had not grown, which will allow them to seek medical help once they are back in Bolivia.
The US State Department has warned that Bolivian hospitals are unable to ‘handle serious conditions.’
Medical care in large cities is ‘adequate, but of varying quality,’ the department added, but ‘inadequate’ elsewhere.
‘This is going to be a constant struggle every day until God decides,’ Morales Antezana said.
She added: ‘It’s scary to think that if something happens we don’t have a hospital to take him to, but knowing his dad will be there makes it a little lighter to bear.’
A GoFundMe started by a family friend claimed that sending the family ‘back to Bolivia would put Jair’s life at serious risk, where pediatric cancer survival rates are far lower than in the US.’
A DHS spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘On September 9, 2025, ICE arrested Johny Merida Aguilar, an illegal alien from Bolivia who was previously deported and has used false identities. He illegally entered the U.S. in 2008 using a fraudulent identity.
‘He received full due process and was ordered removed by an immigration judge on July 15, 2008. He was removed and chose to commit a felony by illegally re-entering the U.S. at an unknown date and time.
‘His children were in the care of their mother. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.
‘Parents can take control of their departure and receive a free flight and $2,600 with the CBP Home app. By using the CBP Home app illegal aliens reserve the chance to come back the right legal way.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Vandenberg, the Merida family attorney, for comment.
